Hi,
I have a pet past time that involves purchasing old family photo albums and trying to work out where the photos were taken and, if possible, the name of the family involved. The information I learn from this activity is fascinating. Anyway, I recently purchased 2 albums that were from the same family. Unfortunately there are no names annotated on the album or the back of the photos. There are some dates however and these show that the photos are from 1913 (or earlier) through to the 1920s. There is little chance of identifying the family except for several photos of a man in naval uniform and a ship. Fortunately the name of the ship was written on the back the photo. It was the H.M.S. Yarmouth Belle. I obtained an image from the net which confirmed the ship in the picture was the H.M.S. Yarmouth Belle, a converted mercantile paddle steamer used for mine sweeping from 1915-1920 and assigned the number 929. There were several photos (attached) of the officer with the crew (one with a life ring with 929 on it!) plus several of the officer by himself. From these photos I have several questions I am hoping you can help answer.
1. What rank was the officer? From what I can gather he was a lieutenant. Is this correct? Can anything be added to his position/rank from the photos?
2. Is it possible to obtain the crew details of the Yarmouth Belle? I am hoping that if I know his rank and have a crew list then I will have a name! Where would I need to look/contact?
3. There is a photo of the chap wearing a white uniform plus a pith helmet. From what I can gather the pith helmet was used for the blue uniform, not white. Is this correct?
4. This last question is actually related to another image from another album. It features a monument to the Zeebrugge raid (very interesting reading) erected at Zeebrugge. Surprisingly there are no modern images or references to this monument. Is it still there or moved? Did the Germans destroy it during the occupation in WW2? Odd that there is nothing about this monument on the net bar some very old photos.
Kind regards
Ekrabappel
Author
Topic: Name of naval officer and sundry queries (Read 17853 times)